Comment on FR Doc # E8-01450

I am a Chapter 7 panel trustee in the Southern District of New York. I have reviewed the proposed Uniform Final Reports and am most concerned about the proposed Trustee?s Report of No Distribution (RND) form. The box labeled ?Key Information About This Case? would be extremely cumbersome and a tremendous burden to fill out. I see no benefit to the Department of Justice in taxing the trustee with the requirements of reporting the alleged value of abandoned assets and the value of assets claimed as exempt in ?no asset? cases. Additionally, in these cases, the creditors will receive no distribution, so why then would it be beneficial to list the sum of claims scheduled and claims asserted (which presumably would always be non-applicable because a claims bar date would not have been set)? Likewise, the final line, ?Claims Discharged Without Payment? is unnecessary, and in any event, is duplicative of the ?claims scheduled? because this is a No Distribution Report. Finally, strictly ?no asset? cases are generally closed timely because there are no assets to pursue. Accordingly, the requirement that the trustee indicate the number of months the case was pending seems like yet another time consuming task with little or no benefit. If any party is interested in the number of months a case is open, that can be easily determined by calculating that time from looking at the dated NDR form, which requires the date the case was originally filed. To require the trustee (and/or his assistant) make these calculations and report in each case seems nonsensical. In addition, after manually entering the required information (directly from the petition), converting each of these forms for every no asset case into PDF and then filing them individually will be a costly and time-consuming endeavor. Certainly, to the extent it is determined that this detailed information has to be reported, it would be in the best interest of all parties if the Administrative Office of the Courts mandates the use of data enabled forms for petitions, schedules and other pleadings filed, so that the information could be transferred into the trustee?s bankruptcy management software system with little manual effort required to re- enter the information sought. In the proposed Chapter 7 Trustee?s Final Account and Distribution Report and Certification that the Estate has been fully Administered and Application to Be Discharged form there should be clarification with respect to paragraph 2. Is the form requesting a monetary amount for assets abandoned and exempt, or the specifics of those assets? In responding to the inquiry of ?Claims Discharged Without Payment? is the question asking for the balance amount of claims unpaid or claims for which no payment was made? How should the trustee respond if a partial payment was made? Or, is the question asking for the type of claims that were discharged without payment (i.e., general unsecured tardy claims)? With respect to paragraph 3, there does not appear to be a section for expenses (unless it is intended that such expenses should be included in the ?Chapter 7 admin. fees and charges? section). Historically, the United States Trustee has requested a break down of these expenses indicating separately: (1) trustee commissions; (2) attorney for the trustee?s fees; (3) other fees and all administration professional expenses; and (4) other expenses (including court fees, etc.). This form seems too broad, which makes me think that the Office of the United States Trustee will be forced to add another form to obtain the detailed information generally sought for their reports to the Department of Justice. In the proposed Trustee?s Final Report (TFR) there is no place for a description of the case and the services provided by the trustee. Thank you for your consideration of my comments. David R. Kittay